The first image from “The Idiot(s),” directed by Małgorzata Szumowska, who has twice won the Berlinale’s Silver Bear, and Michał Englert, has been released.
“The Idiot(s)” stars “White Lotus” breakout Aimee Lou Wood, Johnny Flynn, who is in Berlin with “A Prayer for the Dying,” Vicky Krieps, who won a best performance prize at Cannes for “Corsage,” and Christian Friedel, who was also in “White Lotus,” as well as leading Oscar winner “The Zone of Interest.”
CAA Media Finance represents the film’s North American rights, while The Match Factory sells the film internationally.
The story is based on the novel “The Gambler’s Wife: A True Story of Love, Risk, and the Woman Who Saved Dostoyevsky” by Andrew D. Kaufman, published in 2021, which follows the lives of the famous writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky and his wife Anna during a period that inspired him to write “The Idiot” — at the time a commercial flop, but today, considered one of the greatest novels in the history of literature.
The film is co-written by Szumowska and Englert together with Kasper Bajon and Bríd Arnstein. Englert also is in charge of cinematography. The producers are Vladimir Zemtsov, Ilya Stewart and Lota Dascioraite.
Szumowska is a two-time Silver Bear winner at the Berlinale for “Mug” (2018) and “Body” (2015), and won the Locarno Special Jury Prize for “33 Scenes from Life” (2008). Englert was the cinematographer for all three films.
Szumowska and Englert co-directed “Woman Of…” (2023) and “Never Gonna Snow Again” (2020), which both premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival. Englert was a recipient of the Sundance cinematography award for “Lasting” (2013).
The film is produced by Gold Rush Pictures and Hype Studios.
Gold Rush Pictures slate includes “Club Zero,” “The Entertainment System Is Down,” “An Unfinished Film,” “The Fin,” “The Light” (Das Licht), “Glenrothan,” “Disappearance” and “Rosebush Pruning.” Hype Studios is a Paris and Los Angeles-based production company, known for “Persian Lessons” (2020) and the Palme d’Or nominee “Limonov: The Ballad of Eddie” (2024).
Wood is represented by CAA and Independent Talent, and Flynn is represented by CAA and United Agents. Szumowska is represented by CAA.